Jack Babuscio describes ‘camp’ as an expression of ‘gay sensibility’, a ‘creative energy reflecting a consciousness that is different from the mainstream’.[1] I am interested in the complex negotiations undertaken by certain media that uses camp aesthetics but ultimately reaffirms mainstream ideologies. Old Spice’s ‘Terry Crews Muscle Music’ Advert (2012) can perhaps be read as camp according to Babuscio’s definition. It involves an ‘incongruous contrast’ between the hyper-masculinity of Crews, as he stares and shouts at the camera while flexing his muscles, and the feminine connotations of the flamboyant, theatrical music performance and the cosmetic product being sold.[2] There is also a ‘double aspect’ of ‘being’ and ‘exaggerated […] role playing’.[3] Crews seems ‘fairly knowing’ of his star image, playing the tough he-man role but amplifying stereotypically masculine traits in excessive way that implies a level of superficial performativity.[4] There is a nod to his reputation as a sensitive and artistic family man made acceptable by his otherwise conventional gender performance- a tension that is often played upon in his acting roles. The advert also employs sensuous and theatrical imagery that emphasises the individualistic force of Crews’s personality- everything is turned up to the max. The frame is filled with a array of overlapping colours and textures and there is even a large sculpture of his head that mocks the absurdity of masculine egomania. However, this advert exemplifies the use of satirical masculinity to sell traditionally feminine products to men still concerned with conforming to gender roles. As mainstream attitudes towards gender and sexuality shifted in the early 2010s, the notion that men could be sensitive and look after themselves became more accepted. The playful mocking of hyper-masculinity here reassures cis, hetero men that it is okay to buy the product, without really undermining contemporary gender conventions. It merely associates Old Spice with new masculinity. The use of camp as a shallow way to make profit perhaps problematises the idea that it is always ‘subversive of commonly received standards’.[5]
[1] Jack Babuscio, ‘Camp and the Gay Sensibility’, in Queer Cinema, Harry M. Benshoff and Sean Griffin (New York: Routledge, 2004), 122.
[2] Ibid., 122.
[3] Ibid., 123.
[4] Ibid., 126.
[5] Ibid., 123.
Bibliography
Babuscio, Jack, ‘Camp and the Gay Sensibility’, in Queer Cinema, Harry M. Benshoff and Sean Griffin (New York: Routledge, 2004), 121-128.
Filmography
Matt Woityra, ‘Old Spice- Terry Crews Muscle Music Commercial’, YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9iKC7vb-Ts&ab_channel=MattWoityra [06/03/23].